Troubled Teens Resources

That troubled teens are emotionally immature is a given. The teenage years were once, ideally, a period of time when a teen had safe passage - to explore life and to grow in emotional depth. That ideal is tough to shoot for in a culture that assaults a teen’s sensibilities on all levels, 24/7.

Ipod, video games, Internet, TV; all seem to conspire to turn a 10 year old into a 14 year old. Rap music idealizes killing, a young girl is called a “hoe” and a heroin addicted model is conferred the title, heroin sheik. There is no safe passage for today’s troubled teen if they are not given the tools and skills to navigate through emotional chaos.

Time eventually teaches us all that any one incident that breaks your heart, will pass. Teenagers need time to learn how to walk through pain to peace. They need time to learn to wrestle deep sadness and walk away stronger. If they never learn the natural seasons of the human heart, the ebb and flow of good and bad, they most often will founder, and sometimes, before they ever discover that “this too will pass“, they take their lives.

Teenage suicide is a fact of contemporary life. Yes, it is one more item for the aware parent to be vigilant for. The Jason Foundation was founded by the father of a 16 year old young man who, without any warning, took his life. The Jason Foundation serves as another powerful tool for education and intervention in the life of an at-risk teen.

Some information from their website:

On July16, 1997, Jason Flatt became a statistic and part of an alarming increase in the nation’s youth suicide rate. The facts reveal that a silent epidemic of youth suicide is ravaging our nation and stealing the futures of our young people.
• Suicide ranks as the THIRD leading cause of death for ages 15-24 and FOURTH for ages 10-14.
• Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for our college age youth, as well as for ages 15 to 19 in many states.
• NHSDA Report / SAMHSA (US Dept. of Health) – In 2000, over ONE Million youth attempted suicide in the U.S. That equates to over 2700 attempts each day in our nation by youth ages 12 to 17.
• Each week in our nation, we lose approximately 100+ young people to suicide.
• Even though white males make up the majority of completed suicides, from 1980-1995, suicide among black youth ages 10-14 increased 233% and in black youth ages 15-19 suicide rates increased 126%. For black youth in the South region of the nation, there was an increase of 214%.
• In the past forty years, youth suicide rates have almost tripled. Between 1980 and 1996, suicide rates for ages 10 to 14 increased by over 100%.
• More teenagers and young adults have died of suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease COMBINED.
• According to the APA, four out of five people who attempt suicide have given clear warnings.

• Life isn’t worth living.
• My family would be better off without me.
• Next time I’ll take enough pills to do the job right.
• Take my (prized collection, valuables) I don’t need this stuff anymore.
• I won’t be around to deal with that.
• You’ll be sorry when I’m gone.
• I won’t be around much longer.
• I just can’t deal with everything; life’s too hard.
• Nobody understands me nobody feels the way I do.
• There’s nothing I can do to make it better.
• I’d be better off dead.
• I feel like there is no way out.

(Source)

Drama queens come in all sizes and teenagers seem to especially excel in the role. However, statements such as those listed above, in conjunction with other signs of depression or disorder in your teenager’s life, are far from the rantings of a drama queen. They can be quite clear indicators that your troubled teen is approaching or is in a psychological crisis sufficiently severe enough to consider intervention.

InCrisis provides an online clinical screening report that can help a parent determine if their depressed teenager is approaching a critical stage.

“The Clinical Screening Report is a tool for parents, appropriate family members and caregivers who want to screen a child’s behavior and compare the screening results to other children. The Clinical Screening Report is designed to identify problems and help guide you in your next steps.”

The report takes about 45 minutes to complete and is to serve only as a guide to assist the parent in determining if crisis intervention is the necessary next step.